Setting Fire to the Nest
by xfirefly9x
Summary: Firefly/Supernatural. River, Sam and Dean go vampire hunting. Rated M for violence.
1. Chapter 1

_**Setting Fire to the Nest**_

They stood outside the mansion where Sam told them the vampire they were hunting was last located. It didn't look like much. It was your typical run down building with an unkempt lawn, a dodgy letterbox that was leaning over enough that it almost touched the ground, and there were a scattering of trees and an old shed down the side.

The fence was high, but there was an opening big enough for a person to pass through without any trouble. It was through this gap that they moved, River sneaking through first, followed by Dean.

"Queen of the castle," River murmured. "She knows we're here."

"Good. Makes things more interesting if she knows," Dean said. "You wanna hold back til Sam gets here? I'll go in alone."

River shook her head. "You need me."

"Ha." Dean laughed her off and then edged closer to the house. He was skilful in his movements, quiet and unseen, and yet the vampire inside knew where he was at every moment. River could sense it in her thoughts. "Shh," he said suddenly, putting a hand over her mouth.

She glared at him. He was the one who had been talking. She knew very well when to be quiet and when to be nice (a girl) and she knew when it was time to fight (the weapon). River prepared herself to fight, while remaining silent and still.

Dean slowly removed his hand from her face. "I thought I heard a-"

The vampire lunged at them without warning, knocking Dean to the ground. His instincts kicked in a split second later. He kicked at the creature. Punched her. Blood ran from her nose. Dean rolled and got to his feet and aimed another kick; the vampire easily pushed him to the side where he lay, groaning in pain. "Foolish one, you are. You think you can take me on and live?"

"You think you can take _me_ on and live?" Dean shot back. Cringing, he climbed to his feet.

River rolled her eyes. "Sam is nearly here," she said to no one in particular.

The vampire turned her attention on River. Her eyes were steel blue and her hair a dark menace around her shoulders. "Your friend is very welcome to come here," she said, smirking. "I'm quite hungry tonight."

Staring blankly at the vampire, River said nothing more. She simply stood and watched.

The vampire seemed to grow tired of her and returned her attention to Dean, who had managed to dig out a stake from the leg of his jeans. She moved aside in time to avoid his attack.

Dean tried again and the vampire dodged him another time. "So what's your name then?" he asked, biding for time. "I like to know who I'm up against."

"Thyone," she replied. "It means-"

"Inspired frenzy," Sam filled in, frowning slightly. He had an axe in his left hand and a bottle of holy water in the other. To River and Dean, he said, "Hey guys. Miss me?"

"Took you long enough getting here!" Dean said. He ran one hand down the back of his jeans, nursing the section he had landed on.

"I was watching the Queen beat on him like a kitty cat," River added.

"Oh, shut it. You weren't that helpful yourself."

There was a glint in River's eyes. She tilted her head to the side and stared at the vampire called Thyone. "We're not alone."

"Quite right, little one."

Sam scrunched up his nose, cocked his head to the side for a moment, straightened and then sighed. "It's a nest."

"What?" Dean said. "You told me this was just one vamp, man! Now it's a nest?"

"How many of you are there?" Sam said, ignoring Dean. He wet his lips with his tongue.

"More than you three can handle. And oh, look. I think that's them now." She gestured out front where a scruffy-looking ute was pulling into the drive. It parked, there was a moment of silence in which nobody moved, and then the doors swung open. Out stepped two grown men, a woman and a girl young enough to still be in high school. All walked with inhuman grace toward them.

"Man, that is just wrong." Dean scowled. "So wrong. How could you not know this is a nest we're walking into?"

"Dean, get it together. Yell at me when this is over."

Dean gave a short laugh. "When this is over, we'll be dead."

"Or undead," Sam added, unhelpfully. He frowned.

"You're beginning to understand," Thyone said. She clasped her hands together and grinned cheerily at them. Just as quickly, she dropped her hands to her sides and her expression went serious. "Good."

As they continued to exchange remarks, River watched the approaching vampires, her features still blank. Waiting. Soon it would be time to release her inner self. The weapon. She could feel it twist inside of her in anticipation (impossible as it was; the change from girl to weapon was always instantaneous, and the girl and the weapon didn't mix in her body beyond the fact that they shared her body).

A silence overcame her and as Dean and Sam left their bickering to finally pay attention to the vampires that were gaining ground on them, she felt the quick transformation. The weapon took over.

_tbc_


	2. Chapter 2

_(part 2)_

The vampires charged and so did she. It was a vicious blur of fangs and limbs. Without weapons River wasn't going to be able to do much damage, but she dodged their blows and danced out of their reach as they attacked.

She spun and saw Dean struggling with one of the male vampires. They looked evenly matched; Dean had the vampire in a headlock for a moment, but the vampire broke free and they began to struggle more.

River twirled again and the young female vampire missed her, ramming instead into the side of the mansion with a heavy thud. This gave River the opportunity to lean down and retrieve a stake from where Dean had strapped it to his leg, spin around and stab the vampire through the heart as she got up. The vampire collapsed and she moved on.

The other vampires, River noticed, had taken to Sam, picking him out as the toughest in their group – incorrectly. She slipped behind the male vampire and placed a well-aimed kick to the back of his knees. He crumpled to the ground, making a roaring sound and Sam moved in for the kill. His axe was far more effective than the wooden stake River had stolen from Dean.

River glanced toward Dean. He was still locked in battle with his vampire. Looking at him was River's first mistake. The older female vampire lashed out in that second and got a hold of her wrist. Her fingers dug into River's skin, drawing blood and she moved her head closer down, mouth open and her fangs glistening. They scraped across River's wrist and her lips closed over the skin and the vampire drank.

"River!" Sam yelled.

River heard Thyone scold the vampire – Jasmin – for drinking while they were working. Just as quickly as she had come under attack, River pulled free, knocking Jasmin back. Jasmin staggered a few steps and then straightened, in time for Sam to thrust his axe out and cut off her head.

Sam grasped River's elbow and steadied her when she almost fell. "You all right?"

"Thyone is still there," she said. "I'll be okay."

Sam nodded and let her go. "Let's finish this."

They hurried toward Thyone, who was leaning against the wall of the mansion with a lazy smile on her face. She was watching Dean and his vampire battle. "You have no hope against Donnie. He was a strong one even when he was alive."

"Screw you," Dean spat out.

"Yeah," Sam said. "You really don't want to make Dean angry."

"How's your little girlfriend doing?" Thyone replied. "Cute little thing. Maybe I should make her one of mine. She's a better fighter than both of you combined."

"Don't even go there," Sam warned. He gestured for River to stand behind him; she instead stood by his side.

Dean, inspired by Thyone's taunting, attacked Donnie again. He hit him head on and with more anger behind his actions than before. Donnie faltered and then regained his composure and blocked Dean's next punch. Dean aimed another punch. This one collided with Donnie's jaw.

By now the vampire's chubby cheeks were flushed red and there was anger in his eyes, fierce and unrelenting. Little more could be done to infuriate Donnie because he was already at the very edge of his tolerance to such things.

Thyone smirked. "I'll go wherever I want to go."

"Yeah?" Dean said, wiping blood from his mouth. "Why don't you go to Hell?"

"Oh, I already have. Here is much more fun. There aren't as many stupid humans in Hell as you might think. None sane, anyway, and it's no fun when they've lost their minds."

"Yeah? Well, you're not welcome here."

Sam shielded River as Thyone lashed out at her. She let out a shrieking noise as she did so, something so inhuman and high-pitched that the initial instincts of Sam, Dean and River were to cover their ears. This didn't bode well for them. It opened to Thyone the opportunity to pummel into Sam and draw her nails against his skin. A trail of blood instantly formed down his arm and Thyone's eyes darkened with need.

Thyone zeroed in on Sam. She ran her tongue across his bloody arm and let her teeth drag against his skin and slicing it more. The blood ran freely down his arm, over his wrist, trailing its way out of his body.

"Dean!" Sam gasped out. "Get River out of here."

"Not on my watch. We're saving your stubborn ass and you don't get a say in-" Dean cut off when Thyone spun around and knocked him heavily in the stomach in one fluid motion. He keeled over, eyes wide, jaw slack and unable to form words let alone save anybody's life.

Sam stared at his broken brother and then put his focus back on Thyone. She was smiling, her lips shiny from whatever lip balm she had put on earlier, and from blood. Sam's. She returned to sucking the wounds along Sam's arm and his vision began to blur around the corners. Everything was growing dimmer. Dimmer and grimmer.

River snapped.

It was as if the weapon part of her knew that it would take much more strength and power for them to take down Thyone than they currently had, and it was coming to their rescue. It reached inside of her and changed her and made her a Fighter, a warrior, and it gave her what she needed to win the battle.

_tbc_


	3. Chapter 3

_(part 3)_

She didn't charge at Thyone, per say. It was more of a fluid motion, like the first steps in a dance or choreographed performance. Sam started calling to her to come back, but by that point River was gone and only the weapon remained. Graceful, Precise. Deadly. She spared him only a glance before she continued.

Thyone immediately took up a defensive position, but she was no match for River. River had fought Reavers and won. She had taken on big, burly men in a bar and won without breaking a sweat. This was just one vampire. A strong vampire, but a vampire nonetheless. It would almost be easy.

Of course she had been injured by the vampire, Jasmin, earlier, and the scent of her blood on her skin would make Thyone more frenzied, but that was only a small issue to be faced. Both Sam and Dean were relying on her now. She was certain they could rescue themselves if it came to it, but she was willing, able and present. It was her turn to play the hero.

Her moves were unlike any fighting types she had learned, or to be more exact, her moves were like a lot of fighting types mixed in, with more than a dash of the dancing skills she had learned as a child. It was beautiful how the dancing and fighting moves complimented each other. It made certain that every move she made and every time she turned or spun around, the movement had purpose and it propelled her into her next move as smoothly as if she were gliding over ice.

Thyone fought with striking movements, like a snake, darting forward at its target with intelligence and cunning, but not much control. If she missed, then it would take her a moment to regain her composure and continue fighting. She did so twice before she managed to get a grip on River.

Thyone held on for all of two seconds before River tore away simply because her last action had enough force behind it to drive her past. Landing a fist at Thyone's throat didn't help things for the vampire either. River glanced around when she caught a glimmer of something from the corner of her eye.

"River, catch this!"

The glimmer was a sword. A weapon, not unlike herself, but in a different body, a different material. It was sleek and shiny and it was perfect. Sam tossed it to her and she caught it, using the force of Sam's throw to continue a strike toward Thyone.

"Letting your girlfriend fight your battles, are you?" Thyone said.

Sam charged at her about the same time as Dean ran at her from her other side. Thyone barely had time to move aside, and even when she did, there was River, waiting for her, a wicked smile on her face and the axe held high and directed at Thyone.

"The Queen will fall," River said, and she plunged the axe down against Thyone. Her skull cracked open and blood ran down the side of her head. Thyone staggered forward a step and River spun around and swung the axe again. This time it sliced cleanly through Thyone's neck.

River smiled when Thyone's head stop bouncing and then rolling over the ground, and she looked over to Sam and Dean. Sam smiled weakly back at her, looking very relieved. He said nothing.

Dean's eyes were wide. "Yeah, the Queen fell, all right!"

_fin._


End file.
